In Memory of Our Revelation
by marapozsa
Summary: They are the sky.


**In Memory of Our Revelation**

a c a n t **h a** - c h _a n_

**Authoress' Note & Disclaimer:** I started this a long while ago and then abandoned it. I picked it back up after finishing the draft of Opulent Quicksilver and finished it but it still pretty much sucks because I'm having a complete brain freeze. You can tell me otherwise if you think I need a mood-boost; also, I don't own Final Fantasy XII and I wish I did. I don't have much to say about this because Balthier and Fran look perfect together. Why else would I write this?

But anyway, read, review, and hope I don't scratch your eyes out for no reason. I hope you enjoy it aside from that threat of impending doom I just spouted out at you.

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001 - sickness

Delirious with fever and only partially conscious of his surroundings - Balthier is a fool for thinking the wood folk would help him.

002 - anger

Silence is the only barrier that marks their frustration at one another, but it is both a wall high and mighty as well as a barricade of defense.

003 - salvation

Fran is usually the one doing the saving, something that Balthier finds rather annoying, because after all, he _is_ the leading man.

004 - doors

"After you," he says graciously as he lets Fran bypass him into the Aerodrome without so much as a thank you or a good-bye kiss.

005 - ocean

The first time he sees Fran content is when they visit the Phon Coast and she sees blue waters for the first time (it's always first times with her).

006 - flowers

As the Viera sleeps, Balthier slowly creeps into her cabin and sets a sentimental gift on her nightstand; something dry and flat and pressed to the page of an old text - ancient, but still precious, just like her.

007 - angel

_A fair lady deserves a dashing leading man_, he decides once he sees the crown of light that the setting sun illuminates in her mane of silver.

008 - hierarchy

Viera have no need for social status, so his Archadian roots mean nothing to her.

009 - speed

The lazy sway of her hips as she moves quickly across the fifty-so yards of open space leaves Balthier oggling at Ashe's posterior, much to Fran's obvious discontent.

010 - implication

Partner was not at all the definition the sky pirate had in mind: he'd been thinking more along the lines of bed-mate.

011 - delicacy

Deadly, yes, but not only was she fatal and fleeting in motion, her movements were so articulate none of their enemies knew it was coming.

012 - cocoon

He wraps the blanket around them both as they huddle in yet another sewer under yet another treasury, trying to hide from Imperials, and takes advantage of the situation to lean his head on her shoulder - Balthier doesn't get any reaction, as Fran is already asleep.

013 - voice

The first thing he hears when he wakes up is her voice; but they're not on the _Strahl_ and they're certainly not in bed together, so his fantasies have been for nothing all along.

014 - apathy

Only an impervious fool would describe Fran as apathetic - if you knew how, you could tell exactly what was going on behind those garnet eyes.

015 - sky

_I'd promise you the heavens themselves if it meant the delight of your company_, he reflects, _and the feel of your hand in mine_.

016 - waif

She's afraid he'll waste away in a dungeon for the rest of his life, while he's afraid she won't be there with him.

017 - phobia

Balthier swats at a spider with a quick movement that makes him pull his feet up to his chest and try to look as if he's not scared in front of Fran.

018 - zeal

Nothing impresses her so much as when he cocks his gun and blows off the head of something that actually _dares_ to cause her harm.

019 - ivy

Tendrils of a plant he can't identify curl around her forearm and she pulls away like she doesn't want to remember what the forest can tell her.

020 - guile

All throughout their partnership she has never found another with a tongue so much like quicksilver.

021 - discipline

"The next time I have need of Basch's imperious attitude I shall make sure his scorn is directed towards you - remember that, Balthier."

022 - evergreen

Her scent is always that of a tree forever in bloom that he finds beautiful as anything.

023 - choir

So far as he knows he has never heard her sing.

024 - sketch

In the dark she can hardly see his outline in the _Strahl_'s pilot seat; she has to make do with the whirring of the engines and the constant hum of a skystone in her ears.

025 - threshold

The door is closed but he intrudes upon her anyway: he does not like what he finds.

026 - fetish

"Fran...There wouldn't happen to be any viera out there with floppy ears, would there?"

027 - elite

Others adore him because he is rich and handsome - Fran acknowledges him because she just can.

028 - empire

Whenever she feels especially unappreciated he informs her, "I gave up a kingdom made of skystones and magicite to be with you...appreciate it, why won't you?"

029 - atheism

Balthier is the only one of the two who believes that the Gods do not exist.

030 - reprieve

The period of silence is broken by another whore's attempts to size up Balthier and Fran suddenly wishes she could have a more exclusive partner, if not one that actually bothered to close the door when he had a little fun in bed.

031 - substitute

All of the women he knows seem to look a lot like Fran.

032 - names

She asks for his name; he replies brazenly, "...God."

033 - sacrifice

Sacrificing himself for his leading lady isn't such a drastic measure as she seems to think; but then again, Ashe isn't exactly who Balthier was talking about.

034 - photograph

He paints a picture of her in his head - like he actually needs help recognizing who she really is.

035 - gossamer

Her clothing tears like gossamer the first time, but silk is by far the most beautiful...It's what Fran reminds him of, actually, smooth and sleek and with **such** well-endowed assets too...

036 - mark

He relishes the idea of her feline claws tearing scars into his backside.

037 - time

The only thing that can move her is time; even for one such as her there is no escape from being the forsaken.

038 - families

He'd rather not think about what children with Fran would be like.

039 - flowers

Chrysanthemums are sacred, so he enjoys comparing Fran to one.

040 - stench

Their connected chambers still reek of sex, so much so that Fran decides to sleep under the stars that night for fear she should walk in upon Balthier and yet another nameless woman.

041 - rings

She wears no jewelry to hide her scars, he notices, while his jewelry has that exact purpose.

042 - waltz

The way she moves is practically a dance of its own, elegant stance and elegant woman in one package that Balthier would just love to get in his grubby little paws.

043 - lacking

When Vaan asks him why Fran wears clothes like a prostitute, Vaan gets both a bloody nose and a set of broken ribs.

044 - foreign

The knowledge of the Green Word is now unknown to both of them - the one who once knew wonders and the one who had never wanted to.

045 - postponed

"We'll regroup in the Aerodrome, Fran, while Vaan and Penelo are busy running errands for that Migelo fellow they prattle on about; it'll keep **them** occupied and give **us** some well-deserved free time."

046 - pastel

He holds up a garment that looks faintly reminiscent of a ball gown; it's the color of daisies dyed a faded rouge and she hates it immediately.

047 - eyes

Their face both hide something more to be said, especially the eyes - one pair ruby red and the other's like opals set in white gold.

048 - mosaic

He scuffs his boot on a face that looks like Fran's on the floor of the temple at Mt. Bur-Omisace; her visage is one that is too pure to be depicted on a floor tread upon by people like him.

049 - aim

The gunshot wound misses her critical areas but she's already falling to the ground and waiting for Balthier to bring her lingering soul back from Limbo: he never does.

050 - exotic

Fran doesn't listen to his murmurings of sweet nothings because she knows they're only true when he whispers them in another woman's ears.


End file.
